Time-optimal Control Strategies for Electric Race Cars with Different Transmission Technologies
Abstract
This paper presents models and optimization methods to rapidly compute the achievable lap time of a race car equipped with a battery electric powertrain. Specifically, we first derive a quasi-convex model of the electric powertrain, including the battery, the electric machine, and two transmission technologies: a single-speed fixed gear and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Second, assuming an expert driver, we formulate the time-optimal control problem for a given driving path and solve it using an iterative convex optimization algorithm. Finally, we showcase our framework by comparing the performance achievable with a single-speed transmission and a CVT on the Le Mans track. Our results show that a CVT can balance its lower efficiency and higher weight with a higher-efficiency and more aggressive motor operation, and significantly outperform a fixed single-gear transmission.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2005.07592,
title = {Time-optimal Control Strategies for Electric Race Cars with Different Transmission Technologies},
author = {Olaf Borsboom and Chyannie A. Fahdzyana and Mauro Salazar and Theo Hofman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.07592},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the 2020 IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference